Hist. 1.18.1Quartum īdūs Iānuāriās, foedum imbribus diem, tonitrua et fulgura et caelestēs minae ultrā solitum turbāvērunt.The fourth day before the Ides of January, a day foul with rain, was disturbed beyond the usual by thunder and lightning and threats from the sky. Hist. 1.18.1Observātum id antīquitus comitiīs dirimendīs nōn terruit Galbam quō minus in castra pergeret, contemptōrem tālium ut fortuītōrum;This, observed from ancient times as grounds for breaking off assemblies, did not deter Galba from proceeding to the camp, since he scorned such things as matters of chance; Hist. 1.18.1seu quae fātō manent, quamvīs significāta, nōn vītantur.or else what is fated, though foretold, is not avoided. Hist. 1.18.1Apud frequentem mīlitum contiōnem imperātōriā brevitāte adoptārī ā sē Pīsōnem exemplō dīvī Augustī et mōre mīlitārī, quō vir virum legeret, prōnūntiat.Before a crowded assembly of soldiers, with an emperor's brevity, he announces that he is adopting Piso, following the example of the deified Augustus and the military custom by which man chooses man. Hist. 1.18.1Ac nē dissimulāta sēditiō in maius crēderētur, ultrō adsevērat quartam et duoetvīcēnsimam legiōnēs, paucīs sēditiōnis auctōribus, nōn ultrā verba ac vōcēs errāsse et brevī in officiō fore.And so that the mutiny should not be thought greater by being concealed, he goes so far as to assert that the Fourth and Twenty-Second legions, with only a few ringleaders of the mutiny, had not erred beyond words and shouts and would soon be back in their duty.
Hist. 1.18.1Nec ūllum ōrātiōnī aut lēnōcinium addit aut pretium.Nor does he add to his speech any flattery or bribe. Hist. 1.18.1Tribūnī tamen centuriōnēsque et proximī mīlitum grāta audītū respondent: per cēterōs maestitia ac silentium, tamquam ūsurpātam etiam in pāce dōnātīvī necessitātem bellō perdidissent.Yet the tribunes and centurions and the soldiers nearest responded in terms pleasing to hear: among the rest there was gloom and silence, as though in war they had lost the necessity of a donative which had become customary even in peace. Hist. 1.18.1Cōnstat potuisse conciliārī animōs quantulācumque parcī senis līberālitāte: nocuit antīquus rigor et nimia sevēritās, cui iam parēs nōn sumus.It is agreed that their hearts could have been won by even the smallest generosity on the part of the thrifty old man: what harmed him was his old-fashioned rigour and excessive severity, to which we are no longer equal.